What Throwing An Ally Under The Bus Actually Looks Like

January 17, 2012 3:02 pm ET
- by Walid Zafar

During last night's GOP primary debate
in South Carolina, Texas Gov. Rick Perry was thrown off his talking points when
he was asked by Fox News' Brett Baier what he thought about Turkey and
its role in NATO. Perry, who has distinguished himself as a know-nothing in a race
largely reflective of the Republican Party's contempt for world affairs, responded
by saying that the Turkish government is ruled by "Islamic terrorists."

BAIER:
Governor Perry, since the Islamist-oriented party took over in Turkey, the
murder rate of women has increased 1,400 percent there. Press freedom has
declined to the level of Russia. The Prime Minister of Turkey has embraced
Hamas and Turkey has threatened military force against both Israel and Cyprus.
Given Turkey's turn, do you believe Turkey still belongs in NATO?

PERRY: Well, obviously when you have a country that is being ruled
by, what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists, when you start
seeing that type of activity against their own citizens, then yes. Not only is
it time for us to have a conversation about whether or not they belong to be in
NATO, but it's time for the United States, when we look at their foreign aid,
to go to zero with it.

Watch:

Perry's
response was the result of an equally misinformed and agenda-driven question by
Baier. As Juan Cole notes, Baier's "charges against
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey
are mostly pure propaganda. Things like the murder rate of women don't change
in accordance with which party is in power!"

It's
true that Turkey has had a terrible record on press freedom for decades, although
there's little to suggest that AKP, the party currently in power, is solely
responsible for it. But Turkey is most certainly not governed by terrorists. Nor
has it threatened military action against Israel. As a stalwart and reliable ally
to the United States, the country has not only sent troops to Afghanistan, but more
recently has deployed a missile defense shield within
its borders, much to the chagrin of Iran. As an
important NATO member, Turkey has also played an active role in trying to
mediate the dispute between the West and Iran over the
country's nuclear program. Like any ally, of course, Ankara has also pursued
its own policies, sometimes to the displeasure of Washington, but rarely to the
extent of undermining longstanding U.S. policy.

Of
course, Perry isn't expected to know these things. He hasn't run a campaign based
on his knowledge of domestic or foreign affairs, so as ridiculous as his
comments appear, they are primarily a reflection of his overall ignorance of
issues.

The
only curious part of this is that Perry has repeatedly complained that
President Obama has thrown another U.S. ally, Israel, under the bus by affirming our decades-long policy against the building of Israeli settlements on
Palestinian land.

That
is a policy disagreement. Labeling a NATO ally that has sent its
soldiers to fight on our side in Afghanistan "terrorists" is what throwing our
allies under the bus actually looks like.